Memphis still has doubters to disprove

To prove you're not an upset waiting to happen. To make up for losses in the regional final the last two years.

To declare Derrick Rose the best point guard in the land. To show that free throws are for getting into pickup games at the YMCA, not winning NCAA Tournament games.

All the top-seeded Tigers have to do is beat second-seeded Texas in the South Regional final today and they'll be off to the Final Four, forcing everyone to acknowledge that John Calipari's one-loss team is as good as they keep saying they are.

And if they don't?

"There's nothing that would lead me to tell them I'm disappointed," Calipari said yesterday. "Not even a bad game."

History won't be as compassionate.

Memphis has a whopping 102 wins in the last three years. The only team to do better was Kentucky, circa 1996-98 -- and those Wildcats had two titles and a runner-up finish to show for it.

In a tournament famous for Cinderellas, the Tigers are hoping to wind up more like the Little Engine that Could -- going and going, then finally making perseverance pay off.

"The previous two years, we weren't ready," said Chris Douglas-Roberts, the team's leading scorer. "We didn't know what the game was like, the intensity level, everything. But now we're more experienced. We know how you have to start a game and we know how you need to start a half. ... Any team with experience is always a better team."

Memphis' experiences include missing 14 straight three-pointers in a regional final against UCLA two years ago and blowing a five-point lead late in the second half against Ohio State last year.

Calipari knows the importance of getting over the hump now, with the guys who have gotten them to the brink, such as big man Joey Dorsey, a senior, and Douglas-Roberts, who is likely to offer his services to the NBA.

Rose arrived only this season, but no one expects him back for another season; the only question about his future is whether he'll be drafted first, second or third.

He'll face no slouch today in Texas, though.

With a three-guard starting lineup of its own, this group has set a school record with 31 wins, despite having lost national player of the year Kevin Durant to the NBA.

Sensational sophomore D.J. Augustin makes the offense go, with A.J. Abrams the outside threat. Damion James is the slasher and Justin Mason the guy who does a little bit of everything. A collection of role players off the bench will keep things cranked up.

Told that Calipari threw out a score of 106-102, Texas coach Rick Barnes didn't see anything outrageous about it. He just wanted to know which team would have 106.

This could be a legacy game for Texas, too.

A win would make it two Final Fours in five years, with Durant's one-and-done "era" in between.